An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s9.38

v1.c9.s9.38

But all urbanization, trade and commerce must rest on the solid foundation of agricultural production and surplus. (Those days one could not expect a high degree of industrialization.) And there is enough evidence of it. Firstly, the granaries at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro clearly point in this direction. Perhaps a granary may also have stood on one of the eroded platforms in the s. rhomb of the ‘Citadel’ at KALIBANGAN. Secondly, it is to be noted that even during the pre-Harappa times the people had developed the technique of sowing two varieties of cereals in a single field. At KALIBANGAN has been discovered a pre-Harappa ploughed field with grid-patterned furrow-marks [16.1]. Of these, furrows in one set are at a distance of 1·9 m and in the other at 30 cm [16.1]. In the modern examples of such fields it is seen that mustard plants, being taller, are grown in the widely-distanced furrows, while horsegram is planted in the other. For all one knows, a similar planting arrangement may have been followed in the ancient times as well. However, archaeological remains duly attest the production of wheat (*Triticum compactum* or *T. sphaerococcum*), barley (*Hordeum vulgare*), peas (*Pisum arvense* L.) and sesamum. Special interest attaches to the cultivation of cotton—an item not produced even by Egypt for centuries to come, even though the country derives its name from that material. The seeds of melon and date testify to the consumption of these fruits, while the banana can be identified from the paintings on pottery.